Life Is a Dream (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays) - Softcover

Pedro Calderon De La Barca

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486421244 ISBN 13: 9780486421247

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2002

Synopsis

A product of the golden age of Spanish drama, Life Is a Dream (La vida es sueño) is the masterpiece of Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681), a contemporary of Lope de Vega and one of Spain's greatest literary figures.
Acclaimed for his superb dramatic instincts and philosophical seriousness as well as his extraordinary imagination, Calderón exercised his best qualities in this allegorical play, an exploration of the mysteries of human destiny, the illusory nature of earthly existence, and the struggle between predestination and free will. The story revolves around the moral dilemmas of a Polish prince, unjustly imprisoned by his suspicious father. Against a background of revolution, Calderón builds a dramatic edifice of outstanding theatricality, rich in symbolism and metaphor, expressed in magnificent poetry.
This excellent new English translation is absolutely complete, and as close and direct as possible. Ample footnotes and an informative introductory Publisher's Note enhance the value of its modest price.

About this title

About the Author:

PEDRO CALDERON DE LA BARCA (1600–1681) was one of the leading dramatists of the Spanish Golden Age. His father was Secretary to the Royal Treasury and a minor noble, and his mother was a devoutly religious woman who died when he was a child. Calderón studied canon law in preparation for his presumed career in the church, but in the 1620s he started to write verse, and his success in competitions attracted attention. The first known staging of one of his plays was a 1623 performance of Amor, Honor, Poder (Love, Honor, and Power). Eventually, the prolific Calderón would write approximately 120 full-length dramatic works, 80 one-act autos sacramentales (religious mystery plays), and many other short pieces of poetry and theater. In 1636 King Philip IV named him a knight of the Order of Santiago. His output lessened in the 1640s, and in 1651 Calderón entered the priesthood, becoming chaplain of the Capilla de los Reyes Nuevos at the cathedral in Toledo, and then, in 1656, head of the congregation of San Pedro in Madrid. He continued to write both secular and religious plays until his death.

GREGARY J. RACZ is associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages & Literature at Long Island University, Brooklyn. His translation of the mock-Renaissance farce, Rigmaroles, appeared in Three Comedies, his edited volume of plays by the contemporary Spanish dramatist Jaime Salom. A specialist in poetic translation, Racz has published works by the Cuban writer Jose Lezama Lima, the Peruvian Eduardo Chirinos, and the Argentine experimental XUL group.

Language Notes:

Text: English, Spanish (translation)

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0486421244
• ISBN 13: 9780486421247
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96